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Monday, November 9, 2009

Crazy Jesus

**The title of this post is lovingly dedicated to my dear friend, Shelley D. It is not meant in a sacrilegious way. It's just a different way to describe the awesome work of God.**
Today was Chris' first day of work. Yep, another first day of work. Hopefully the last first day in a loooooooong time. I'm going to try to keep this brief, but I have to make sure you know how much God was a part of all this. He's always a part of everything, but sometimes we just don't acknowledge Him as much as we should. I want to acknowledge Him. :)
So, putting it lightly (very lightly), Chris' most recent job, you know, the one we moved to central Florida for, turned out to be.......dumb. There are lots of other words I could use, but I won't. Just trust me when I say it became very, very evident that our future was not in that company.
About 3 weeks ago-ish, a job opportunity came to Chris' attention. It was originally emailed to a friend of his from work, but this guy was not interested. When Chris first told me about it, I told him no way. We're not interested. You see, the position is in St. Petersburg. We are positive God had placed us here in central Florida, so why in the world would we pack up so soon to move to the west coast?! No way.
We prayed. We had family and friends praying. Chris' job situation got worse and we were clueless as to what would happen next. We prayed that God would show us what His plan for us was. Our ways are not God's ways. God's ways are not our ways. Slowly...or quickly, however you want to look at it, my heart changed and it became apparent that this job opportunity in St. Pete was a very possible job for Chris.
So he submitted his resume and the bid package ( I know you have no clue what that is, but it was basically a sample bid so the employer could see Chris' work). And we waited. 4 days later, Chris got a call. "We'd like you to come in for an interview on Monday."
"Okay, God. We know this doesn't mean he got the job, yet, but please guide us through this."
The interview went famously. Chris loved the company and the people. The people seemed to like him as well. It seemed like a dream. But nothing was determined yet. So we drove home and waited some more.
Thinking we wouldn't hear anything until Friday, we continued to pray for God's will, and we waited. Wednesday, Chris got another call. "We don't know what it is about you, Chris, but we want you to put your two weeks notice in, and come work for us as soon as possible."
If that's not an answer from God, I don't know what is! Praise the Lord! When Chris called me to tell me the news, I bursted (is that a word?) into tears. I just couldn't believe it. God proved Himself faithful. Oh so faithful.
His boss, however, didn't take it so well, and basically did not accept the 2 weeks notice from Chris. He told him not to come back. So last week, we took a mini vacation to North Carolina to see some pretty darn cool people, and then we returned, ready to begin our new lives....again.
We trusted (and still trust) that God would work out the details. There are still alot of things to work out. Mainly, our lease on this house doesn't end until next August. It's obviously not ideal for us to stay here that long. But we'll tackle that later.
For now, we are certainly blessed that my dear "little" brother in Tampa is allowing my sweet husband to bunk with him and his roommate during the week! I will get to see Chris Friday evening through Sunday night. Although I miss my hubby dearly already, we know this is what God has for us right now. He will put the rest of the pieces together in time.
We are just in awe of the power of God. My words are far too simple to describe the awesomeness of Him. It's crazy Jesus!!

Friday, October 30, 2009

Dress Up

Laura Anne dressed up as a ballerina for church this past Wednesday. I made the tutu. I got the instructions from HERE. It's so easy, you have to try it! Well, if you have a girl to make it for, that is.


I have so many pictures of this smile. I love it!
Caleb joined her for a few pictures. I have a horse costume that he's super adorable in, but it was too hot outside so it has to wait.
Now that I have officially turned into a puddle because of the cuteness, I will go now. Oh yeah, the last post was Laura Anne's doing. She sat at the computer and clicked away for a few minutes and somehow figured out how to post it. I couldn't make myself delete it. :)
And details of the super great stuff is still coming!


dhddfydydhhteywysu

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

God Is So Good!!

2 Chronicles 16:9 "The eyes of the Lord search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to pursue Him."

Details on some great stuff coming soon!!

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

New Normal

We were so blessed to be able to take Caleb to a dermatologist last week. We had an appointment with a physician's assistant, but to our surprise, the doctor himself walked in! You would think after seeing so many doctors about Caleb's eczema that we would know how to control it, but that has not been the case. It's so stubborn!

We learned a few more things during this particular doctor visit. Caleb has extremely dry skin and to help keep him from itching we need to be moisturizing him 10 times a day. Yes, 10 times! I thought I was doing good with 5 times a day. Also, he can't take hot baths. We need to use Aveeno Calming Comfort bath solution. Then we have a prescription oil to use after bath time. He's also on an antibiotic because he did have a secondary infection. And at bedtime he takes an antihistamine to help control the itching.

Wow! What a schedule! I had to write it all down and put it up in Caleb's room just so I can keep track and make sure we're doing everything right. He goes back to the dermatologist in a couple weeks and I want to be able to show the doctor that we're doing everything the way he said to do it.
Right now, his skin looks awesome, but we believe that's because of the antibiotic. The true test will be after the antibiotic is done and out of his system. The doc said that if his eczema comes back, we're doing something wrong. We want to make sure that doesn't happen!!
And I don't know the exact cause of this, but Caleb has been sleeping much better at night for the past 3 nights. I hope that continues!!


Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Ecclesiastes 3:11

"He made everything beautiful..."

This is the verse Laura Anne memorized for church last week. We got started 2 weeks late for memory verses, and we are very proud of her for memorizing all three verses to catch up.
Last week's lesson was centered around Ecclesiastes 3:11. During class, the kids planted a seed for a pea plant. By the weekend, we could see the plant starting to grow. The following picture was taken this morning:
Laura Anne loves watching it get taller and taller. They are also talking about Creation during Wednesday nights Awana class. This week she's learning that on day four of creation God created "the great lights..." (Psalm 136:7) I love this. I love watching her learn about our God and how wonderful and mighty He is! She actually told me last week when we were talking about the things God created that "God has power." Yes, He does, my child.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Park And Party!

Thanks to our new friend, Sue, we discovered a really nice park within walking distance of our house! I can't believe it's so close and I didn't even know it was there! But one day recently, when the weather was just a tad bit cooler not as scorching hot, the kids and I walked (well, Caleb rode) to the park. We were the only ones there and it was great fun!

Then it was party time! Saturday, October 3rd we had two parties to go to. The first was for Desiree, Chris' best friend's daughter. She had a bouncy thing in her back yard that we all enjoyed for a little while.

Ha! I only posted this next picture because of Laura Anne's hair. And the floating ball. :)

Then we headed to my mom's party. She turned 35. ;o) I have this thing for sometimes forgetting to get a picture of the birthday person so, sorry Mom!! I'll do better next year! You know, when you turn 34!

Here are the cousins, minus Anna who isn't yet big enough to sit with the big kids! The kids are enjoying pizza! With the exception of poor Caleb and his carrot sticks and turkey. :( But he doesn't know what pizza tastes like so it's all good!

Laura Anne and Steven played with Legos together. So sweet!

And Uncle Chris (a.k.a. Daddy) was a sport and got attacked by the children.

It was a fun-filled and packed weekend, but we enjoyed it all!